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TimeZero. Kill an elf, save a dandelion. (Grigory Deriabin)
http://www.mmorpg.su/gamelist/48/review/
Yes, the post-nuclear world of TimeZero, unlike the mentioned F. and S., gives you a lot of freedom. Once becoming mature and strong (around level 3), our character can already leave the city with a heart-warming name of Vault City. However, a walk beyond the city limits can prove to be thorny and dangerous, and the newly trained heroes rush to the mines, where they toil to obtain various stuff, so they can gather an initial capital (hello, Ultima).
It is a hard and dangerous job, but quite interesting, despite the monotonous route and surrounding landscape. The complexity of the problem, and of the whole gaming world, is tied to the fact that it is absolutely impossible to predict your own fate; once we leave the city, we can only count on ourselves and our luck. Will our character return to the beloved Vault City with trophies, or will he slowly rot somewhere in the grey depths of the mines, torn to pieces by rats, or killed for precious minerals (or just for the fun of it) — despite it all depending on the gamers' actions, is also a question of fate (however, “slowly rotting” — is just an expression, and doesn't reflect the game's realities, since the dismembered character is quickly reincarnated in the nearest city from some useful nano-particles, though his trophies, alas, are not returned). The thing is that although it is pretty simple to forecast the mutant's behavior, the “living” visitors of the mines and wastelands can give you quite a surprise. Beware — the half-naked '“newbie” of your level that you decided to kill, expecting easy money and experience can easily draw, at best, a Desert Eagle, and at worst ... well, almost anything will be “worst” for you.
But TimeZero is not held together only by robbers and thieves, and a character in trouble can call for help. If, of course, you are being attacked, and not being the attacker. Even better, a whole class of mercenaries walk around, helping anyone in need with some massive fire support. For a price, of course. The opposite class — the corsairs — live by the rules of “pillage and loot”, and live pretty well at that. But the cities of “TimeZero” would have fallen into decay, the chats would be flooded with spam, and the “newbies” would not be able to walk more than a few locations beyond city limits, if it wasn't for the extension to the firm hands of the administration — the police. This outfit not only clamps down superheroes that go to far, but also investigate economical crimes, and catch cheaters and spammers.
Thus exists a lively bustling and ever changing community — the shops (both private and public) are engaged in commerce, stalkers, covered in dirt and road dust, return from their raids, journalists (yes, there is such a profession) write for the local tabloids, hordes of various newcomers just walk around, and those that were not so lucky wait to be fully recovered in the hospital. And so forth and so on. This anthill, a reality in reality, a puppet world, lives by its own rules, and the player can either become part of the system, or turn into a “lone wolf”, but for TZ a separate individual is not even an ant, more like a grain of sand, or even an atom. You can only count on yourself, or, at best, on your companions (which shouldn't be trusted too much either).
For the most part this handmade community is, if not being equal to that of the early internet Ultima, is coming to its mark. Of course, you can't get away from killing (despite a number of “bloodless” quests), but you can bring it down to a minimum. There aren't a lot of MMORPG games, in which there is a meaning in being a merchant and “TimeZero” can proudly say that it is on the list.
But the battles in TZ also have distinctive features — tactics (really, really): that, which allows the monkey with a more developed brain system to defeat the monkey with less imagination. At the primates' disposal is an almost isometric battlefield, on which an experienced gamer can distinguish various covers and obstacles. Fallout fans will love the opportunity to shoot the head, and other body parts, and the followers of the notorious “BK” will find and opportunity to use classical “three blocks, three hits” system. Furthermore, firearms and all other weapons of destruction tend to get worn out and left to gather dust in various commissions sections of the local shops, until some newbie finally buys them (though, usually, no one ever does).
All of the above still doesn't mean that TZ is the ideal browser game. Like any game of its kind, it is, in some aspects (kill another 15 fat mutant rats and drink some tea) is boring to death. There is always a black sheep, and online RPGs cannot, making the same mistake over and over again, get rid of some features of the gaming process. And that is as true as the sun over the wastelands.
Grigory Deriabin (nightingle)
